Morrisania

Morrisania is a low-income residential neighborhood in the southwestern Bronx, New York City. The area was named for the 2,000-acre estate of the powerful and aristocratic Morris family, who at one time owned much of The Bronx and New Jersey (members include Founding Father Gouverneur Morris). In 1874, the area was annexed to New York City, and the New York City Subway was extended to the area in 1904. A large influx of European immigrants arrived in the neighborhood, with tenements replacing houses as the dominant form of dwelling. In the 1950s, urban planner Robert Moses destroyed various tenements in favor of a colony of public housing, and the poverty in Tremont caused by the construction of the Cross-Bronx Expressway spread into Morrisania. The Third Avenue El closed in 1973, and a wave of arson destroyed or damaged many of the residential, commercial, and industrial structures in the area. Morrisania would be plagued with crime, poverty, and drug addiction, and crime peaked during the crack and heroin epidemics of the 1980s and 1990s. Many drug addicts reside in the community as a result of the drug trade, and the incarceration rate in the area is high. In 2011, Morrisania had a population of 16,863 people, with most of its inhabitants being Latin Americans and African-Americans.